Pitch your business idea or concept for a chance to win $4,000 (across multiple categories) in seed funding.

1st place undergraduate team moves on to the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium regional IdeaLabs competition!

2019 Winners

Thanks to all who participated!

Provok Media

first place: $2500

Gregory Joyce, a senior Finance major, pitched transforming his clothing company into a full media company with a social mission.

Togetherness App

second place: $1000

Public Health graduate students Tam Nguyen, Dania Mofleh, Anthony Coetzer-Liversage, and Joud Roufael used their experiences as immigrants to the US to put together their smartphone app to bring together a host of useful resources for those newly come to the States.

EduVerse

third place: $500

Amrth Ashok Shenava, sophomore Computer Science major, presented his smartphone app that could be used as a replacement for the university ID card, to address issues of loss and security.

And a big THANK YOU to our judges!

DeLoresPressley, CEO of DeLores Pressley Worldwide and the founder of She Elevates™, a non-profit organization created to empower young girls to become entrepreneurs

Finalists will be selected from the written/video applications to pitch in person

Finalists Notified: March 5th

Finalists Present: March 12th

Who?

This competition is open to all Kent State students (undergrad, grad, PhD) regardless of major

This competition is for new business ideas, started 1/1/18 or later.

Application Information

Important Information:

(Finalists will be selected from the written/video applications to pitch in person)

Finalists Notified: March 5th

Finalists Present: March 12th

Part 1: Video Pitch

Please create a 30-90 second video elevator pitch of your idea. You may use any website such as Kaltura, YouTube or Vimeo to post. (Kaltura video.kent.edu allows for unlisted videos. Please provide us with direct link if unlisted)

1. What problem does your idea solve?- What problem are you trying to solve for your customers?- What specifically frustrates people about this issue?

2. What people face this problem?- Who are the people who would pay to fix it?- What makes them especially susceptible to this problem?- What would stop these people from using your solution?

3. Possible current solutions?

- How are people dealing with this problem now?- Are they just ignoring it, thinking it can't be solved?- What are some other ways of approaching the problem?- What's wrong with current solutions that make it not ideal?- What makes your solution better?

4. Channels

- How would people with the problem access your solution?- Where do those people already shop, spend time, experience the problem?

5. Need to succeed

- What do you need in order to provide your solution, in terms of time, materials, talents, resources?- What do you already have access to?- What are some creative ways to get access to the other resources?

6. Unique Value Proposition

- How is your solution an improvement over others?- What makes your solution a "must-have" for the relevant audience?- How will you help your potential customers easily adopt your solution?- What's your "secret sauce"?

7. Revenue Streams

- How will you make money from this solution?- What other ways can you package or sell access to your solution?- Could you simplify your solution to be able to sell it more quickly?- Can you adapt your solution for different audiences?

8. Cost Structure

- What costs will you have to provide the solution?- How will you charge customers?- Don't for get about maintenance and upkeep, not just initial set-up costs